Finding the Spark

When I wrote about my goals for this year, one of them was to find the spark and joy in writing again. I was spending too much time catering to other people that I lost the plot, and wasn’t enjoying what I was making as much. The last little while, I’ve been looking at my big ol’ story ideas document, thinking up other ideas, and working on developing some things that make me excited to create again.

And…it worked! I wound up with five ideas that I really liked, and could see myself doing something with. I couldn’t narrow it down so I began outlining all of them, and through that process, I managed to axe two ideas (for now). And then I had two pretty solid story concepts left, but there was one loose idea that I couldn’t stop thinking about. Of course, even though I had quite a bit done for the other two concepts, I wound up hyper-fixating on the third and now have that developed into a pretty extensive pitch that is nearly complete.

The last couple of pitches that I’ve put together didn’t wind up going where I wanted them to, which is always disappointing. But I have to remember that I had a lot of success early on, and the way that I managed to sell my books in quick succession isn’t the norm for most authors. I’ve had to learn to manage my expectations (I’m still working on it) and continue on even when my submissions don’t result in something being acquired.

And if this is all gibberish to you, apologies. Publishing is a beast where there’s a lot of hurry up and wait moments, and to do the quickest little summary of the process, it’s:

Put a pitch together, inclusive of a manuscript
Send to your agent for notes, and incorporate feedback and edits
Once the pitch is ready for editors, your agent will put it out on submission
Editors provide feedback and then make a decision for if the project is something they’re interested in,
If yes, they take it to the acquisitions team who all also have to be on board with the project
And if everything goes great, an offer will be given to the creators

Of course, there’s a million other things inbetween, and after…and there’s so much that could go wrong. And very often, it’s trying to find the editor who will love whatever it is you’re doing and champion it so hard that everyone else will also be on board.

So I’m nearing the end of the first of those steps, and cautiously starting to talk about the concept with my peers, and soon, my agent. Hopefully we’ll show it off to editors soon, and if all goes well, it’ll get the green light! But this story is one that I’ve been having a lot of fun with, and is very different to what I’ve done before. Well, sort of. I think there’s a signature humour and goofiness to a lot of my stories, and I like to mix that in with heavier components. It’s a reflection of how I process the world (through humour), so I love to have elements of that, no matter the story.

WHEW. Well, wish me luck! In the meantime, if you’re in Ontario, I have some upcoming appearances and you should say hello to me.

UPCOMING APPEARANCES

Saturday, March 8 from 12:00-2:00pm – Signing at Indigo Kingston – I’m returning to my hometown for my first ever professional appearance there! And it’s at the mall I used to work at when I was in high school…what a trip! Come say hello and help kick off March Break in style. Books will be available for purchase, and I’ll be there for a couple of hours to sign stuff and chat.
Friday, March 14-Sunday, March 16 – Toronto Comicon – I’m back at Toronto Comicon this year, so if you’re wandering around the show at all, come say hello! I’ll be at Table P157 with copies of my books, Sharpies to sign stuff, and I hope to see you there.

And now for some fun and exciting news about my books!

End of year can be a hard time for a lot of creators. There are so many BEST OF lists going around, and it’s difficult when it sometimes feels like you’re being left out of the mix. One of the hardest things to learn as a creator is not compare your success to your peers. It’s really hard though, especially when there are limited measures to gauge where we’re at. I’ll admit that I definitely hoped to be on some of those, and when that didn’t transpire, I was bummed, but I reminded myself that it’s okay.

But in the last month, although my books didn’t make a lot of the press’ BEST OF lists, they’ve started to make library lists, which is incredible to see.

Pillow Talk is an American Library Association (ALA) Rainbow Reads Pick
Pillow Talk is a YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens Pick
Animal Rescue Friends: Learning New Tricks is an ALA Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table Best Graphic Novels for Children Pick
Pillow Talk is an Ontario Library Association (OLA) Best Bets Graphic Novel

And last but not least,

The Racc Pack is a Top 10 title for the TD Summer Reading Club!!!!

I’m so proud of these books, and the fact that libraries are honouring them means the world to me. I grew up in my local library—reading there and playing on their computers, often while my parents had to work. And being around stacks of stories became a comfort and joy to me. I am forever grateful that I had that space to read and learn on my own terms and to have access to whatever stories interested me. I never could’ve dreamed that I would someday have books of my own in libraries, and that librarians would be promoting and championing them.

But enough of that! Let’s talk about some stuff I enjoyed last month…

I’m a hermit a lot of the time, and I love being home with my wonderful senior pets and my partner. That’s why I usually wind up with a pretty extensive list of books, graphic novels, TV, and movies that I have consumed. Especially in these bitter cold months as winter digs its heels in a little more before spring finally gets here.

Let’s take a look at some stuff that I enjoyed recently, starting with books:

BOOKS OF NOTE

I managed to read a substantial number of things this month (mostly graphic novels), so I want to share a couple of highlights from the pile:

Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner – How could I not talk about this delightful graphic novel by Racc Pack co-creator, Whitney Gardner?! As you might have guessed from the title, it’s about a definitely not haunted keyboard that our young main character finds, and starts using to elevate her musical abilities in order to gain the attention of her absentee musician father. It’s a delight, while also juggling big themes and subject matter. PREORDER NOW (out July 1, 2025)
Flip by Ngozi Ukazu – Flip is a perfect modern Freaky Friday, with deeply relatable characters and journeys. While the body swapping concept is obviously fantastical, the story largely is rooted in learning to better understand others, and taking the time to put yourself in someone else’s’ shoes. It’s core messaging about trying to fit in and find your own self worth is something that many young people will strongly connect with as they read this. An incredibly brilliant and honest graphic novel about looking inwards and finding the best parts of yourself and others around you. PREORDER NOW (out September 23, 2025)

And while I don’t have anything eloquent to say about these books, a few other things that I really enjoyed reading this month are:

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall
Bubble by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, Tony Cliff, and Natalie Riess
Rare Flavours by Ram V and Filipe Andrade

TV

Once again, it’s time to round up the TV that I watched last month. I didn’t actually get through a ton but I have a couple things of note that I’d love to share…although none of them are particular unheard of.

I finished the sixth and final season of What We Do in the Shadows, and what a ride. I have loved this show with my whole heart from start to finish. Each season delivered a delightful storyline, great character arcs, and hilarity. I had my doubts when this show first got announced—I had no idea how they were going to turn the movie into a full show, and I am so happy to have watched them exceed all expectations.

I am now fully caught up on Silo, having sat through the second season shortly after finishing the first. I gotta say, I have no clue where it’s going. Annnnnnd admittedly sometimes when something is adapted from a book, if I have to wait for more, I will spoil it by looking up the book (or reading it). But even though I did ultimately try to ruin the ending for myself, it honestly didn’t feel like it provided me with much more information. So I guess I’ll have to just wait to see where it goes—I’m not mad about it, just impatient.

And then I finally got around to starting the second season of The Bear. The first season was an anxiety-inducing watch, but I found the second season a little bit more level. I think bringing the characters of Sugar and Claire into the fold to calm some of the choppy waters, was a really smart move. Both actresses were great in their roles, and I found myself wanting to dive into the third season right away…which I can do because I’ve waited so long to watch!

Lastly, I continue to be on my reality TV kick, and while Love is Blind is still airing (with one episode to go), I’ve been also working my way through Below Deck: Sailing Yacht and Selling Sunset. The latter of those two has admittedly been something that I’ve had on while doodling or only half paying attention to the TV, but has been a great little introduction to Chrishelle, who I met for the first time on the third season of The Traitors, which I’m also watching. Truly came in here to be like “I only watched one reality TV thing last month” and then remembered that that is simply not true 😅

I have kept on playing Wylde Flowers but I beat the main story and have been dipping off of it while I try to figure out what my next obsession is going to be. I do have a ton of things that I own and should play but trying to find the thing that I’m in the mood for is such a process. Do I want to get back into a Final Fantasy? Or perhaps finally play the Blacksad game? Or the cozy games I recently picked up for my Nintendo Switch? I’ll be agonizing over this for a while longer until I eventually just start something up.

So if you have any suggestions—I’m especially into the cozy farming sims (similar to Wylde Flowers or Stardew Valley would be great).

SOCIALS:

I’ve been a little less active on socials lately, but if you want to follow me online, you can find me:

Stay tuned for more updates, coming very soon.

Until next time…